The other morning one of my Shanghai co-workers came up to me and told me that she was listening to the news out of the United States.
"Oh, good," I thought, "Something stupid Trump has done again..."
No, instead. she was telling me about how expensive Szechuan sauce is in the US and that she heard that an ounce of it can go for $14K US. Then she assured me that Szechuan sauce is not nearly as expensive here in Shanghai and that I can get it for quite cheap.
It took a beat for this to register (sometimes it takes a second to work through the accent) and then I exclaimed, "Oh! Rick and Morty!."
She looked at me askance. Nodded. Laughed a little bit. And walked away.
Suffice it to say, I've found that some bits of irony, sarcasm, and pop culture references don't translate too well across cultures.
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